No Longer StuckInSoCal wrote:Oh c'mon dude! Monta crashed a vehicle he is by contract not even allowed to be riding, in the off-season, and then he LIED about it... and you're comparing his injury to those of his teammates who sustained injury while playing the game of basketball? I mean... really?

And Monta's interviews have been horrible of late. He needs to learn to keep his mouth shut instead of telling reporters that he's not going to take any extra on his back. He's paid to be the leader of this team. He took the team on his back tonight and if he'd just STFU in the locker room no one could say a thing about the dude.

He's a great talent who has his own challenges being too small to play the traditional off-guard spot. Instead of mouthing off in pre-season about not being able to play with Steph and then mouthing off during the season about not taking on any extra he should just play his damn game.

"I'm the leader. It starts with me. Everything starts with me," Ellis told the Boston Globe. "Making sure everybody gets involved in the game. Making sure everybody knows the plays. Making sure everybody starts the game off right. Yeah, that's me. I've got to get that back into my head that I am the piece of the puzzle. I am the head leader. It all starts with me, so I've got to get everybody going, get this franchise back to who I know we can (be)."

Tell me how that was a bad interview or quote from Monta, this after game against the Celtics, so its recent, just seem to me your perspective has been set on Monta and is blurry with negativity.

An unintentional injury is just that, unintentional, at the end of the day its an injury. They should have just boxed Monta up in bubble wrap so he stays injury free, not get in a car or fly cause who knows what could happen. He lied to try and cover himself and it failed, because it was more serious than he thought, am sure you perfect that you have never lied to a teacher or employer to cover yourself, right

At the end of the day this is basketball, with his skill set Monta will continue playing people, and more and more will jumo right back on the band-wagon.

That's not a bad interview. This is a bad interview.

Monta Ellis Doesn’t Sound Happy

By Marcus ThompsonMonday, November 16th, 2009 at 9:27 pm in Uncategorized.

Here is Ellis’ take on the Stephen Jackson trade situation. Interesting to say the least.

What did you think when you found out?

“(laughs) It was amazing to me. I couldn’t believe it at first. It is what it is, man. I’m gonna miss him. We gonna miss him. I went to see him before he left. It seemed like he was happy. As long as he’s happy, I’m happy.”

How tough will it be to lose one of your best players?

“It was tough when we had him. (laughs) Losing him, it’s going to be tough. But we’ve got to find a way to get through it, man. I wish him the best. Now, it’s on us. That’s what they wanted, so they got it.”

Will you have to do more to make up for the loss?

“I’m not (going to) put no more on my back. Somebody else gonna have to step up. I’m not gonna do more, somebody else gonna have to step up and take on the role that Jack had and be that player. But I’m not putting no more extra on my back.”

Do you feel a need to be more vocal?

“Nope. Uh, uh. Not at all”

What do you guys lose with Jack gone?

“No. 1, besides his scoring and the ability to make the extra pass. What we’ve been emphasizing the whole time is defense. That’s one of our best defenders on the team. And we’re trying to get better as a defensive team. And now, who we got now that’s going to play defense? We got me. And who else?”

Raja Bell is a good defender

“I don’t know too much about dude. I mean (pause) it’s crazy, man.”

Jack was your best friend on the team. Will you bond with another teammate?

“I’m close to all my teammates. I’m still gonna do what we do. We’re going to hang out the way we’ve been hanging out. It ain’t going to be no different. We lost one of our close friends. That’s it. But, hey, life goes on. I’mma talk to him every day. He’s going to talk to me every day. Still going to be like he’s here. So I’m not tripping. Like I said, as long as he’s happy, I’m happy.”

So you’re happy. OK. Cool.

“I’m happy that he’s happy, yeah.”

But you’re not happy?

Yeah. I just said I’m happy that he’s happy. (Laughs)

What’s going to be the key going forward?

“Our young guys gotta pay more attention and learn the game more. They probably need to watch more film and sit back and really evaluate the game more, and better.”

Its called fustration, Beans is the only other player left with a long tenure with the team. No doubt him and Jax were probably close friends, and with the state of the team, and the uncertainty, that was Monta's state of mind at the time as well as his reaction. Could he have sugar coated it, yes, but I like his honesty in the situation. Things have settled, and as we see with his new quote he is ready to take on the responsiblity of leading the team. Holding a grudge on a player for being honest and saying things in the heat of a turning point in his career, when his "bigger brother" is no longer with him, then feel free to hold that grudge.

And what wrong with the last quote, if the younger guys need to watch more film so, be it, it will only help them in their game.

Monta is a fine talent (although has some limitations) however the problem I have is that we want him to be a LEADER. If Monta is the leader of this team, then we will never go anywhere.

Sure, we will win some games that nobody thought we should like last night but if we were ever in a situation battling for the last playoff spot, or battling in a playoff series, in my opinion, he is not the guy that could put the team on his back and be the stabilizing force in the locker room that the other players look to.

I just see Monta as a great COMPLIMENT to a team, but not its leader. I dont blame him however as it is once again management that forces these roles on players that are not capable of fulfilling them.

If we can bring a leader on this team allowing Monta to just do what he does well, then I would love for him to stay.

bada wrote:Monta is a fine talent (although has some limitations) however the problem I have is that we want him to be a LEADER. If Monta is the leader of this team, then we will never go anywhere.

Sure, we will win some games that nobody thought we should like last night but if we were ever in a situation battling for the last playoff spot, or battling in a playoff series, in my opinion, he is not the guy that could put the team on his back and be the stabilizing force in the locker room that the other players look to.

I just see Monta as a great COMPLIMENT to a team, but not its leader. I dont blame him however as it is once again management that forces these roles on players that are not capable of fulfilling them.

If we can bring a leader on this team allowing Monta to just do what he does well, then I would love for him to stay.

If that is the case I will take that Lebron or Kobe fellow in a heart beat to join the warriors, but realistically its not going to happen. If we could get another player thats better then of course that would be awesome, but thats not realistic.

I think Monta is not a leader in the sense of an MJ or a Kobe or even a Chris Paul, but he can lead by his play on the court, getting others involved, playing tough D, getting key buckets when we need them. He will inspire teammates to raise their game as he raises his, it's naturally contagious. Where he's going to need help more is in the locker room. A leader has a vision, looks at the bigger picture, and is no longer one of the boys. He knows his teammates and can sense who is going to have a good game, etc... In my opinion, he would need a mentor (like Baron) to sort of model how to take that on if he is ever going to morph into that player.

bada wrote:Monta is a fine talent (although has some limitations) however the problem I have is that we want him to be a LEADER. If Monta is the leader of this team, then we will never go anywhere.

Sure, we will win some games that nobody thought we should like last night but if we were ever in a situation battling for the last playoff spot, or battling in a playoff series, in my opinion, he is not the guy that could put the team on his back and be the stabilizing force in the locker room that the other players look to.

I just see Monta as a great COMPLIMENT to a team, but not its leader. I dont blame him however as it is once again management that forces these roles on players that are not capable of fulfilling them.

If we can bring a leader on this team allowing Monta to just do what he does well, then I would love for him to stay.

If that is the case I will take that Lebron or Kobe fellow in a heart beat to join the warriors, but realistically its not going to happen. If we could get another player thats better then of course that would be awesome, but thats not realistic.

Leadership to me does not have to mean a better player, although that is certainly preferable. Just like Hardaway was a leader but was not necessarily a better player than Mullin and or Mitch.

bada wrote:Monta is a fine talent (although has some limitations) however the problem I have is that we want him to be a LEADER. If Monta is the leader of this team, then we will never go anywhere.

Sure, we will win some games that nobody thought we should like last night but if we were ever in a situation battling for the last playoff spot, or battling in a playoff series, in my opinion, he is not the guy that could put the team on his back and be the stabilizing force in the locker room that the other players look to.

I just see Monta as a great COMPLIMENT to a team, but not its leader. I dont blame him however as it is once again management that forces these roles on players that are not capable of fulfilling them.

If we can bring a leader on this team allowing Monta to just do what he does well, then I would love for him to stay.

If that is the case I will take that Lebron or Kobe fellow in a heart beat to join the warriors, but realistically its not going to happen. If we could get another player thats better then of course that would be awesome, but thats not realistic.

Leadership to me does not have to mean a better player, although that is certainly preferable. Just like Hardaway was a leader but was not necessarily a better player than Mullin and or Mitch.

At this point Ellis and Beans have the longest tenure as a warrior, so they have earned the title "leader" in that respects. Another player can't just come in a take over that position, because he would be a new warrior and won't deserve it. No Baron, no Jax, no Jrich, so its Monta, he has at least earned it, and I see him growing into it.

The Oregonian wrote:But the smaller Warriors did what McMillan has always preached to his team -- they scrapped. In fact, Roy felt the Warriors scrapped a little too much. Roy, who shot 6 for 17 from the field, complained all night that Monta Ellis was grabbing his off arm, throwing him off balance. At one point, Roy was given a technical by Tommy Nunez Jr., just his third technical in four years.

"I tried to make it clear he was grabbing my arm," Roy said. "And he came back in the second half and said he missed it. Now, he will probably come back to me the next game and say he missed it (in the second half). But Monta was slick about it, and as a team they did a good job of pressuring us."

-- Jason Quick

There was something like 27 fouls called in the 1st half. It didn't look like they missed much.

bada wrote:Monta is a fine talent (although has some limitations) however the problem I have is that we want him to be a LEADER. If Monta is the leader of this team, then we will never go anywhere.

Sure, we will win some games that nobody thought we should like last night but if we were ever in a situation battling for the last playoff spot, or battling in a playoff series, in my opinion, he is not the guy that could put the team on his back and be the stabilizing force in the locker room that the other players look to.

I just see Monta as a great COMPLIMENT to a team, but not its leader. I dont blame him however as it is once again management that forces these roles on players that are not capable of fulfilling them.

If we can bring a leader on this team allowing Monta to just do what he does well, then I would love for him to stay.

That's what it feels like, but you know what I realized last night? Monta is clutch. The thing is, we haven't really had many opportunities to see him take the reigns in a tight game and be the closer. But when he has, he has done the job! The game against the Nets, last year closing out the Blazers and this year closing out the blazers. Monta is a competitor and he makes clutch shots. I think he can be a leader. He doesn't have to be THE leader, just a captain and someone who inspires confidence.